Gay gets over Bolt demolition and aims to take US trials by storm

Tyson Gay says he has recovered from the shock of his stunning 100 metres defeat by Usain Bolt in New York three weeks ago, when the Jamaican broke the world record in a time of 9.72sec, and will be using it as motivation at the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon this weekend.

Reflecting on that reverse - he finished second in 9.85sec - Gay said: "When someone comes to your country and kicks your butt, and then breaks a world record and puts a cherry on top, it can put something in your mind a little bit. But after a week or so I was able to block it out and get back to business. I realised [the record] took a lot of pressure off me."

The world 100m and 200m champion, preparing for the first and second rounds of 100m competition tonight, knows he has to improve his start - he was too slow out of the blocks and over the first 30 metres in New York - when he races Bolt again, particularly if the Jamaican decides to double up in Bejing and run the 100m as well as the 200m, the event he most wants to win.

Gay said: "It was taking my feet longer to hit the ground while he [Bolt] was covering more ground. That was the difference, but especially in the first 30 metres. You wouldn't think a guy who is 6ft 5in would be able to cover that much ground and move that fast. A lot of people won't think I could make a dramatic change in three weeks but the work I have been putting in working on some of the things that I didn't do in that race [against Bolt] it should put me in a 9.7 race."

At the trials Gay is aiming for victory in both the 100m and 200m but his main focus is on the shorter sprint. "I want to run a fast time in the 100," he declared. "If I can run 9.7 or a personal best after four rounds, that will let me know what my fitness level is going into Beijing."

The US trials have a clear cut three-past- the-post selection system for Beijing for those with the qualifying time but for Dwain Chambers the path to the Olympics could not be more complicated. The British sprinter makes his next attempt to achieve the 10.21sec threshold he needs even to qualify for Beijing when he competes in Biberach, Germany, this afternoon.

Chambers, who has run 10.24sec this summer in his pursuit of the qualifying mark, has also entered the 200m where he would need to improve his personal best of 20.68sec by 0.09sec if he aims for that distance in Beijing as well. However, whatever Chambers does - in terms of times run or securing a place the British team at the national championships in two weeks' time - will be rendered irrelevant if the British Olympic Association decides not to overturn his suspension from the Games following his drugs ban.